Stephanie you are correct, group policies are much more expensive than individual ones and for some small businesses it doesn't pay to go the group plan route.

Only good benefit w/a group plan is that there are no pre-existing clauses that most individual plans have.

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Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Originally Posted by lillie

...I do just want to tell you a small startup I used to work for used Trinet for their HR and benefits. (http://www.trinet.com) Same concept - it pooled lots of small businesses together so it could offer good insurance and other benefits.

The best insurance I've had was when I worked for a company that went through TriNet. However, I believe the company has to have a minimum of 5 employees, the employees have to work at least 30 hours to get coverage, & the employer has to pay 80% of the employees insurance premium. There is also a 'per employee' admin charge, which if I recall correctly was about $130 per month per employee. You add all that up & you're looking at a significant chunk of change.

Solving the current health care crisis would go a long way to helping small businesses.

OK, I don't know anything about this, but apparently this guy's company provides great rates for self-employed health insurance.
American Business Benefits Association
www.paulmarsocci.abbaplans.com

He's in my local networking group.
I've never talked business with him since I'm not in the market for health insurance right now . But just in case someone can benefit, thought I'd share the reference.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

I spoke with a health ins. broker about a year ago who said it is actually cheaper to buy an individual policy rather than a group policy ('group' being when you are the business owner for a group policy). Not so long ago it was the other way around. I can't imagine why it changed. That's why there are so many small businesses who can't afford to offer group health ins. anymore.

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Thank you for posting the link for the insurance. I think a lot of us are in similar situations. I am a single parent with no other job, so I really appreciate that link.

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Rhonda Holscher, Owner
Rhonda's Virtual Office - Hire a Virtual Assistant

The only issue I personally know about individual vs' group policies and why group policies are more expensive is because group policies can't have a pre-existing clause whereas individual policies can. For the person who started the tread, make sure you talk with your local farm bureau. Our local farm bureau offers a "group" policy with discounted rates for farm bureau members, without any pre-existing clauses. One other note, it may be in a person's best interest to have major medical coverage and save the monthly cost difference for routine office visits, etc. that you pay out of pocket. Now, my area of expertise is dental coverages. Watch out for dental HMO's. These can be a nightmare. For most people, unless you have group dental coverage, it's less expensive to pay out of pocket than the month premiums, copays, and deductibles....not to mention waiting periods for basic and major services. Any questions on dental you can PM me and I'd be glad to provide comments. Medical HMO are completely different than dental. Good luck!

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The Doctor's Rx
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